Recently, my sister Kate (who runs this website) was interviewed on breakfast radio, together with the founder of the Plastic Free July movement: Rebecca Prince-Ruiz. I was so proud of her that I decided I would participate in Plastic Free July for the first time this year. From the outset, Kate knew that my biggest struggle going plastic free would most likely be in the bathroom. Especially shampoo!
She recommended trying a shampoo bar as my first try at plastic free shampoo… But Kate is my younger sister (by thirteen months) and as much as I love her, she doesn’t get to tell me what to do. So, I called her and said I was going to try making my own hair care recipes instead. Ever the optimist, she tried not to laugh at me (to my face anyway). She encouraged me to try lots of plastic free shampoo and hair care products, to do my own research, take photos and then share my findings with her.
I tried hair oils, shampoo bars, hair rinses, hair masks and invested in two beautiful glass bottles to replace all that yucky plastic and went on my journey…
Please note that I live in the USA and the plastic free movement is not as prominent here as it appears to be in the UK.
There are some affiliate links in this article. I may earn a small amount of money, at no extra cost to you, if you purchase something. Read more in my disclaimer.
Are you in America? Check out Life Without Plastic. They sell a whole range of household items for those looking to live plastic free.
‘Natural’ Hair Care
Way back when Kate and I approached our teen years, living in a sixteenth century house in an old Yorkshire town, we succumbed to the lure of ‘natural’ hair care. We were two Gen X children of the hippy generation. Brought up to be as sustainably conscious as humanly possible; no car, homegrown veg on an allotment, water and electric conservation, (our showers were timed!) recycling or re-using EVERYTHING! But even we fell prey to TIMOTEI.
Timotei was a shampoo brand in 1980s England that featured a pre-raphaelite-esque long, fair-haired goddess washing her hair with Timotei shampoo in a waterfall. It totally appealed to our sensibilities. Finally, a natural hair care product that would make my sister and I look like water nymphs and feel like mermaids.
How could we resist?
But Timotei (now discontinued) included the following ingredients:
AQUA, AMMONIUM LAURYL SULFATE, GLYCERIN, (Glycerin is a sugar alcohol derived from animal products, plants or petroleum), LAURYL GLUCOSIDE, (Surfactant made up of palm kernel oil, coconut or corn sugar mixed with ethyl )COCAMIDOPROPYL BETAINE, (Cocamidopropyl betaine is a synthetic detergent and surfactant PARFUM (many fragrances are actually dervided from petroleum based products), SODIUM BENZOATE, CITRIC ACID, SODIUM CHLORIDE, GUAR HYDROXYPROPYLTRIMONIUM CHLORIDE, BENZOIC ACID, LINALOOL, LIMONENE, ALOE BARBADENSIS LEAF EXTRACT, CITRUS PARADISI JUICE, CITRUS RETICULATA PEEL EXTRACT, SODIUM HYDROXIDE, (Not a petroleum byproduct, but a dangerous caustic known to do severe harm in large quantities) POTASSIUM SORBATE.
When we think about plastic free hair care, we’re normally referring to the containers being used. But do we really want petroleum based products in our shampoos? Even the most “natural” of my present day shampoos and conditioners contained even more petrochemical and synthetic ingredients.
Plastic Free Shampoo Alternatives
THE HEALTHIER ALTERNATIVES
Healthier for the Planet. Healthier for you!
So in a desperate, and frankly now terrified state, I decided to go both plastic and sulfate free, and did what my sister told me absolutely not to do – which was to throw out all my shampoo, conditioners and plastic containers in the bathroom and start from scratch. My teenager tried to be patient, but was not impressed. Insert teenage eye roll here. Apart from potentially destroying family relations, here’s why throwing everything away and replacing it is also a bad idea – (The Problem with the Zero Waste Movement.)
The Shampoo Bar
Okay, so my sister was right, I suppose. Shampoo Bars are fairly awesome. I love that they come in cardboard containers (no plastic / zero waste) and did a good job of cleaning my hair. However, it took forever to coat my hair. I just do not have the time for that! Furthermore, although my hair looked okay, it felt weighted down, and dry. I was reliably informed that not all shampoo bars are the same, and I soon found companies that made conditioning bars as well. But still, I knew this was not going to work for my schedule. And my son, frankly just looked at it. (Insert teenage eye roll here.)
Liquid Castile Soap
I’m a huge fan of Dr. Bronner. I’ve been using it as hand soap and at a pinch as washing up detergent and shampoo on camping trips as well. It definitely does the job. It comes in post consumer recycled plastic bottles and in many different scents. I personally love the lavender. My teenagers even wash their hair with this when we go camping, without complaint. However, I ended up with the same problem as I did with the bar. My hair felt like it had a film on it, felt heavy and just looked dull.
Hair Oils
Being a big fan of ayurvedic medicine and skin care, it only made sense that I should invest in ayurvedic hair care as well. That being hair oil. They are ALL amazing and I throughly recommend, but it took at least 3 goes with the liquid castile soap to get the oil out after. In fact, my hair was so oily for so long, that I resorted to a store bought (sulfate free) shampoo in a plastic bottle to wash it out properly. My hair was restored to its original glory and sheen! But I felt I had cheated myself.
The Ayurvedic hair oil took 3 washes to get out and then naturally straightened my hair, see the third pic above! Felt amazing though!
Hair Masks
Egg, honey, yoghurt. In fact anything good for you in the kitchen turns out to be pretty good for your hair and skin as well. Even my local hair salon actually coats my hair in raw egg before shampooing to leave it feeling beautifully conditioned. Again, these are great additions to your hair care routine, but not something I could feasibly add to my morning shower before work.
Hair Rinses
Out of everything I tried above, a hair rinse made with rice water was the best. It helped clear the film off my hair after shampooing with bars or liquid castile soaps, and left my hair and scalp feeling refreshed, revitalized and nourished. I am not losing this from my hair care routine. Unfortunately, it’s something you have to make in advance and store in your refrigerator. I’ll be honest, even this seems like too much effort for a busy working mum like myself to handle on a regular basis.
Homemade Hair Care Recipes
I’ll be honest, I tried washing my hair for two weeks using variations of recipes based on liquid castile soap and hair rinses made with either rice water or ACV, and then gave up; Because my hair just did not feel clean, in the way I was used to. I’ve read that it can take a few weeks for our natural hair oils to return after years of using petroleum based sulfates and surfactants in shampoo. I knew it was going to take a while, but I wanted to find an easier way to transition into natural hair care that was not going to make me look like I’d just climbed out of a hedge.
Shampoo Recipe
1/2 cup liquid Castile soap
3/4 cup filtered water
1 teaspoon coconut / avocado / safflower mix oil
Add a few drops essential oils to scent according to taste
Conditioning Hair Rinse
2 teaspoons Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV)
1 cup filtered water
1/2 cup chamomile and lavender flower tea
1/2 teaspoon rose oil
Plastic Free Shampoo Conclusion
I invested the rest of my time this July researching all natural shampoo companies that made hair care from all natural (real researchable natural ingredients with no chemical additives.) My focus was on sulfate free products and searched for companies that sold their shampoos in refills or glass bottles. I’m sad to say that here in the States I could not find ONE company willing to sell shampoo in a glass bottle, in case it breaks in the shower. (By the way, Drene shampoo by Proctor & Gamble was sold in glass bottles in the 1930s).
I found a great looking company that sold rice water based shampoo bars. This looked really possible for me. Instead though I settled on a company aiming to create a closed loop system for their plastic bottles. The company is US based and does not sell overseas, yet. Their shampoo is $25 and their conditioner $20. Outrageous! Yes I know, but years ago we all paid a tonne more for organic products and brought the price down, the same is happening to electric cars. I can only hope the same will happen for hair care down the road too.
There are lots of plastic free shampoo options available and I think, like any shampoo, you have to find the one that works for you. Making your own is certainly a great option for those that have the time, but wasn’t really feasible for me long term. There are so many different shampoo bars available that I feel like I probably need to try a few different ones before I write them off completely. I’m definitely not going back to buying the shampoo I was using before though. I think it’s extremely important that we all make better choices when we’re shopping. Most importantly to me is to avoid petrochemicals in as many products as possible.
Editors Note: A huge thanks to my sister Tina for writing this article… And (unbelievably) admitting that I was right about something! Kate x
